Index tabs for quick identification and selection of information from looseleaf or hardbound binders are a common feature of nearly every well-organized office or home. Typically, these index tabs are provided as markings on certain sheets or pages of binders, books, notebooks, or other multiple sheet material. In order to facilitate ease of scanning and selecting pages, the index tabs are typically staggered or spaced, along the edge of the multiple sheet material. For example, a set of index tabs connected to the edge of spaced index sheets are positioned just far enough away from each other so that the identifying text or characters or symbols appearing on all index tabs can be seen simultaneously. Uses for such index tabs include simple referencing and presentations, among others.
A set of index sheets generally include a fixed number of index tabs which span the length of the material being indexed. The number of tabs usually ranges from about 3 to 8 or more.
In general, index tabs are made in one of two ways. The tabs may be integrally formed as protrusions of the sheets themselves as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,699 issued to Lowe on Jan. 22, 1980. Alternatively, the tabs may be separate components which are connected to the index sheets as shown, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,603 issued to Kao et al. on Oct. 16, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,261 issued to Cusack et al. on Aug. 4, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,427 issued to Cusack et al. on Aug. 23, 1994; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,414 issued to Popat on Feb. 14, 1995.
It is often desirable to produce index tabs using common office printers. As the Kao et al. patent indicates, forming index tabs as integral protrusions of the index sheets is difficult since it has been difficult to machine print identifying text on the index tabs. For example, it has been impractical to insert the entire index sheet into a standard typewriter in order to type text sideways onto the protruding index tab. It has also been difficult or impossible to feed index sheets directly through common office printers, such as laser printers, ink jet printers or office copiers, without encountering jamming problems, limited feed size problems, or distorted printing problems.
It is desirable to print index sheets using common office printers due to the great flexibility of what can be printed as well as the high print quality provided by such printers or the like. However, such printers require the sheet stock to be uniformly dimensioned, at least widthwise, according to standard sizes in order to be accommodated by the standard sized feeding tray and pathway of such printers. Otherwise, the sheet stock will either tend to jam within such printers or not even fit into such printers.
An index sheet is typically designed so that a portion of the sheet will extend past the boundary of the materials being indexed for easy viewing. As a result, index sheets are typically wider in size than the standard size accepted by a printing machine. Moreover, protruding tabs on the top or leading edge of index sheets which are first drawn into the printer, can jam or stray from the correct feed path. In addition, the sheet stock must be strong enough to withstand the stresses imposed on the sheets by the feeding mechanisms and pressure rollers, and must provide a uniformly smooth surface that will properly take up the toner. Because of these requirements, conventional index sheets having nonuniform widths due to protruding index tabs have been poorly suited for use in common office printers.
Several ways to produce a machine-printable index sheet have involved transforming the size of the index sheet to fit within the feed size width of the printing machine. This has been accomplished by such techniques as folding over a portion of the index sheet for printing purposes. While these techniques have been successful, the present invention is directed toward an index sheet which does not have to be folded or similarly manipulated in size prior to printing.